Alpha
by Athena Nyx
Summary: Two boys, one sky. A brief meeting of two worlds, otherwise apart.  Itachi/Ienzo


_#01 – Comfort_

Though Ienzo knew not where he was, what was happening, or anyone around him, a boy that looked to be around his age brought an oddly comforting presence—and that scared him a little.

_#18 – Speed_

The bureaucratic system here left much to be desired in efficiency, but as soon as he had been fully checked out, he rushed over to Itachi to finally head to rest.

_#11 – Name_

Itachi's entire family seemed to be having trouble pronouncing his name, and so even though nobody except the youngest of the five particularly liked the idea, Ienzo's name had simply been shortened to Zo.

_#36 – Market_

The next morning, Mikoto, Itachi, and he arrived at the market to purchase clothes for him—as the clothes he wore now were some of Itachi's older clothes, and as much as he disliked owing someone something, he disliked wearing Itachi's _underwear_ even more.

_#07 – Chocolate_

Sasuke seemed to have entertained himself with my bag, Ienzo thought, because although Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi could not discern what was on Sasuke's face, Ienzo knew that it was his chocolate Sasuke had consumed.

_#38 – Gift_

After much mental deliberation, wondering, and staring from Itachi, Ienzo finally decided that Itachi could have the novel he was holding as a gift for allowing him to stay—after all, it wasn't like that was his _only_ copy of _The Princess Bride_.

_#23 – Hands_

The entire family tried to give off a sense of warmth and harmlessness, but Ienzo made sure to not offend any of them, for he knew what those callouses on all of their hands (even Sasuke's) meant.

_#05 – Potatoes_

After a few days, Ienzo was allowed to cook something in the kitchen, and so he ignored the odd stares that he got when he placed the mashed potatoes on the table, in favor of making sure everyone got some to eat (which everyone agreed later was one of the best dishes ever made by a guest).

_#47 – Moon_

When the two older boys headed outside late at night and the moon reflected off of Itachi's eyes, Ienzo could have sworn that Itachi looked at him with a look that screamed of—_lust?_—some sort of lunacy.

_#29 – Melody_

While Itachi may not know what Zo (_E-N-Zo, he tries again to no avail) _is thinking, he knows the pain of homesickness etched on his face intimately, and does his best to ward it away the only way he knows how _(and no matter how long I can wait~ I can never live without you—_his voice rings in the night).

_#08 – Happiness_

Itachi gives Zo a stick of his pocky—the first person to get one of Itachi's pocky sticks—and for the first time, Itachi sees him smile, and he gets that odd feeling in his chest again—like he can't breathe and doesn't really want to anyway, because then time would start again and he'd miss this.

_#49 – Hair_

Though Ienzo is too embarrassed to try it again, and Itachi too polite to mention it, for one night, Ienzo took Itachi's head in his lap and just ran his hand through the dark strands until both of them were in heaven.

_#15 – Touch_

Itachi wanted to reach out and just run his hands along Zo's body, take him into his arms and make him his, learn everything about him that he could, he had to settle for simply slipping in little "accidental" touches whenever he could.

_#35 – Bonds_

Neither Itachi nor Ienzo could figure out how, in the short span of not-even-three weeks, they had gone from complete and total strangers to friends no one could tear apart.

_#24 – Taste_

He was running a little too fast to get back, wasn't watching where he was going, distracted by something in the corner of his eye—no matter how many excuses he made, he couldn't deny that he liked the spicy, slightly smoky taste of Itachi on his lips.

_#16 – Weakness_

For a while, neither of them would step up and admit that they liked the accidental contact—Itachi, too concerned with clan pride, and Ienzo, too concerned with reception, both shared the common weakness of not being able to step past and speak their mind.

_#02 – Kiss_

Finally, Ienzo got sick of waiting and dancing around and looking at Itachi with less-than-honorable intentions on his mind, and walked over to him, yanked him up by the collar, and kissed him for what felt like eternity.

_#39 – Smile_

Ienzo was worried when silence ensued after the kiss, but then, suddenly, Itachi smiled and kissed Ienzo back.

_#03 – Soft_

They held each other close, caring about nothing but the touches that ensued, and the softness of the myriad of kisses given that night.

_#06 – Rain_

The next morning, the rain poured down from the heavens, and Itachi and Ienzo simply curled up beside each other and read throughout the day—though they were more focused on each other than the books they held.

_#31 – Home_

Only then, in that near-perfect moment, was Ienzo finally at peace that this full well could be his home if there were no way to return to Radiant Garden.

_#04 – Pain_

The one thing—or rather, person—that Ienzo wished he could have with him, right now, was his dear friend and near-older brother, Aeleus, and the pain of possibly never seeing him again struck hard and quickly despite Itachi at his side.

_#37 - Technology_

Though they did not have the technology Radiant Garden had achieved, Ienzo still marveled at some of the sights he saw while exploring the city with Itachi—he had never noticed before, but there were _people on the roof!_

_#19 – Wind_

The wind blew past, and suddenly Itachi's hair tie flew out of his hair (which may or may not of had to do with a certain Apprentice loosening it), flying through the street until Itachi finally managed to catch it again.

_#14 - Sex_

Though they tried their best to carry on normally, no matter how much they attempted, they could never get rid of the feeling of defilement, disgust, and slight curiosity at the sound of Mikoto's and Fugaku's rather _loud_... explorations next door.

_#10 – Ears_

(Ienzo wasn't quite sure that a noise that lustrous, that loud, that aroused should be allowed to come out of his friend's mother's mouth, never mind into his ears...could Sasuke be hearing this?)

_#45 - Hell_

Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha had no idea what kind of hell they were in for, not through Ienzo's smirking face or Itachi's enraged one, until Sasuke asked the dreaded question:

"Tou-san, why was Kaa-san screaming last night?"

_#26 – Forever_

"You will _never, **ever, **_do anything like that again in hearing range of myself, my _boyfriend, _and my _**little brother, **_unless you wished to be **castrated.** Do you understand?"

_#32 – Confusion_

"Boyfriend? You have a—why didn't you tell us you two were like that?"

_#09 - Telephone_

Though it sneaked up on them both, somehow Itachi and Ienzo went from being good friends to boyfriends; naturally, everyone in the village knew about it within the week.

_#12 – Sensual_

They had stayed fairly safe—a few kisses here and there, a touch slightly higher or lower than the norm occasionally—until Itachi had decided to kiss him right _there_ on his neck, and then he was sure that he would never be anyone's but Itachi's.

_#17 – Tears_

Itachi heard Ienzo crying lightly, and although he could not release all of the pain of separation in Ienzo's heart, he could hug him and kiss the tears away until Ienzo's muffled sobs subsided.

_#20 – Freedom_

Although he had been free from his duties for a month under "foreigner surveillance," Itachi had to return to service, and Ienzo couldn't bear the thought of Itachi leaving him.

_#21 – Life_

Every night Itachi returned home safely was a night with Ienzo, living the life that he should have always been allowed to live in exchange for the freedom he would soon give up to his village.

_#22 - Jealousy_

Despite the stupidity of it, Ienzo was slightly jealous of Sasuke's ability to stay carefree while he worried every moment about Itachi and Aeleus back home.

_#25 – Devotion_

It surprised Ienzo that Itachi was just as determined as Aeleus would have been to take care of him when he showed slight symptoms of a cold (that wasn't even a cold!).

_#27 – Blood_

It wasn't the blood all over Itachi nor the aura of death surrounding him that worried Ienzo; it was the resigned look in his eyes, as if he was giving up something greater than his soul on whatever battlefield he roamed.

_#28 – Sickness_

Ienzo was actually thankful for Itachi getting sick with the flu, as that meant he would be right in his view at all times (-oddly enough, a few days later, Ienzo ended up getting the exact same strain of flu.)

_#30 – Star_

It amazed Itachi that Ienzo could and would name every star he saw as a different world, and the amazing descriptions he would give of each—_you see that star, the second to the right? That's Neverland, it's always there. Sometimes I wish I could just fly away to there like they can on that world._

_#42 – Clouds_

While Itachi was away, he would sit with Sasuke and one of his friends and watch the clouds, thinking of Aeleus and his strong presence and when Itachi would return (because he kept the thoughts of home away).

_#13 – Death_

Sometimes Ienzo wondered whether he was considered dead on Radiant Garden, and if so, did that make Itachi a necrophiliac?

_#33 – Fear_

He loved this world, but on the inside, Ienzo was afraid that he'd never return home to Aeleus and Even and Ansem; however, he was just as afraid of losing Itachi.

_#34 - Lightning/Thunder_

Every time Itachi saw lightning strike, he thought of Ienzo's arrival, and every time he heard thunder, he thought of Ienzo's loud entrance into his life.

_#40 – Innocence_

Itachi and Ienzo both laughed when they heard Sasuke's innocent question of "when are you going to get married?"

_#46 – Sun_

There was a blinding light of red and blue and yellow almost as bright as the sun, and Ienzo kissed Itachi before running towards where a crash occurred, knowing it was time to go.

_#50 – Supernova_

Just two months into his stay, and not even two months into his relationship, Ienzo left the Elemental Countries with a bang, a flash of light, and two crimson eyes on the gummi ship.

_#48 – Waves_

Though everyone else was adjusting to the absence of Ienzo from their lives, Itachi knew he would never fully recover from the loss of Ienzo and what they had together.

_#41 - Completion_

"So, in the two months that you mysteriously disappeared, you learned about a new world, immersed in its culture, and... got a _boyfriend?_"

_#43 – Sky_

Both Ienzo and Itachi thought of each other when they looked at the sky, and although they would never be the same without each other, they were better off for it.

_#44 - Heaven_

Itachi occasionally asked himself whether there was a God or a heaven; though the latter he doubted, the former he was sure of when he saw a familiar head of slate hair on the ground six years later.


End file.
